Economic Forecasts 18 October 2025 - 11 December 2025

The heart of the story is the Permian Basin, North America’s most prolific shale oil patch. It has been “producing for over 100 years and left for dead two or three times,” as Diamondback Energy’s CEO Kaes Van’t Hof notes, yet today the Permian alone yields over 6 million barrels per day – more than any country except the U.S. and Russia foxbusiness.com. Chevron’s Mike Wirth points out U.S. oil output now exceeds that of Saudi Arabia and Russia combined foxbusiness.com. Under the Trump administration’s energy policies, drilling and pipeline projects in the Permian have accelerated. Maria Bartiromo’s recent tour of Midland, TX, highlighted that Permian oil now supplies roughly 40% of U.S. production foxbusiness.com, a share slated to rise sharply. Texas Congressman August Pfluger – who joined the Permian tour – calls the basin the “crown jewel” of American energy pfluger.house.gov. He argues that the prior Biden administration’s regulatory agenda temporarily held back U.S. oil investment, saying they “drained the SPR for political reasons…attempted to impose a fracking ban” etc. pfluger.house.gov. Now, he and others say, policies are reversing – a new push for energy dominance is under way. Indeed, the White House recently proclaimed October “National Energy Dominance